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South Indian style Curd Rice

Chennai Connection

By Barnali Dutta, Published March 6, 2014

South Indian style Curd Rice [flavored with curry leaves]

"Curd Rice" actually means unsweetened yogurt rice dishes
of India and it is one of the very special preparations of South India.
In dry and semi-dry seasons consumption of this dish
maintains fluid balance in human body in a hot tropical
climate country like India.

In Bengal also, so many dishes
includesyogurt as main
ingredient like Chida dahi mahotsav [celebration with
people - a festival vitalized by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu],
Dodhikorma on puja, Dodhimangal a marriage custom, Adhibash on fasts, on feasts, and so on. Bengalis
love to take curd in all type of meal. In our childhood we used to have flattened rice [চিড়া] with
sour yogurt on breakfast Jalkhabar [জলখাবার],
finish our lunch with homemade yogurt [an individual cup for everybody - yogurt did set in
ramekins], evening tiffins consisted of sour yogurt and puffed rice with some minced
cucumbers, onions, and green chilies salad [variant of kachumber, an Indian relish]
spiced with my mother's specially toasted five-spice powder, and
one big scoop of sweet yogurt and rice as desert during dinner, yummy !!

Caitanya-caritamrita Madhya-lila verse 283

Especially, on important days before leaving the house having a
spoonful of yogurt with granulated sugar is like a ritual in Hindu in every household. I think this
is because the coolness created by sandal tika [তিলক] on forehead and coldness
felt inside after
eating of yogurt gives us great relaxation of mind too. Yet after having this
curd rice I am trying to find an excuse to turn this into a tantalizing food. Somebody
told me in Chennai that before sitting for an exam one should eat curd rice cooked with carrot
and pomegranate together with okra fry since it is believed an extra help to achieve success.

I was
curious and while in search for the brain food I found some very interesting information
in our ayurvedic books Chiranjib Banoshadhi [written by Shibkali Bhattacharya],
which I was reading religiously. Boiled carrot [গৃঞ্জন or
গাজর 3/108], garlic with
milk [রসোন 1/51], pomegranate [দাড়িম্ব 1/251]
are very helpful for enhancing memory and the ladies finger are rich sources of iron, zinc, folic acid, omega-3 and other minerals can capacitate us to act
more intelligently.

In this 'Curd Rice' recipe, the balance of rice and curd may differ. I
like to add milk to make it less sour with right sweet-sour balance, a creamy
consistency accompanying with dry okra fry with Mother's Recipe mango pickle and
oven-toasted papad.

Ingredients

Take 1/2 cup of milk (of room temperature) and 1/4 cup of yogurt of double-toned milk. Place two garlic pods in the yogurt to soak overnight.

For tempering you need gingerly sesame oil 1 teaspoon and ghee 2 teaspoon, a
small piece of gum asafoetida [size of one pomegranate seed] soaked and
diluted in one teaspoon of water, curd chili [chili pickled in yogurt], two
teaspoonful of split urad dal and chana dal pairing with cashew
nuts, black mustard seeds one teaspoon, one dried round [red ball] chili, and one swirl of curry leaves.

One tablespoon of tiny diced carrots and one tablespoon of pomegranate seeds.

Instructions

Take the cooked rice, salt according to taste, and curd, beat well, keep aside
for 5 minutes. Now add milk.

Prep time: 00:10
| Cook time:
00:05
|
Total time: 00:15 | Yield: 2 servingsIngredients
Ingredients:
Thankuni pata/ Centella leaves, 2 bunches about 100 g Green chilies 2 Kalo jeera (onion seeds), 1 tsp Salt to taste Oil 1 tspA pinch of sugar to balance the tasteInstructions: Take the leaves from bunches (you can use whole leaves with stigma). Wash and clean thoroughly and keep in a big bowl of lukewarm water for 5 minutes. Take out leaves from water, do not strain, use your hand and remove leaves from water carefully.Though thankuni is usually not attacked by pets and diseases of serious nature, but this a small,…

Bhut chadurdoshi and Choddo Shak - 14 Greens ritualBhut chadurdoshi and Choddo Shak - 14 Greens ritual
Green Gaga
By Barnali Dutta,
published by Prasadam: October 22, 2014Tomorrow is Kali puja. On this day the Mother, the Goddess of Strength [Shakti], the source of all, the universal principle of energy, power or creativity is worshipped and this is also known as the famous Festival of Lights - Diwali. By Diwali I remember that in the market today, alongside large displays of fire crackers, lined up wicker baskets full of green herb is to be found too. In no time I had decided and amassed with lots of health arrived there. Truely, it is a rare opportunity to have so many rare edible green vegetables available in the market in Kolkata these days.

According to our forefathers this is the time at the end of the monsoons when people should start eating herbs in Bengal. I still wonder how much have we progressed or advanced or modernized from our forefathers. Man has left behind a wonde…